US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed.
Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel.
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.”
Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of retaliation for an attack on Iran’s embassy compound last week in Damascus that killed a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overseas Quds Force and six other officers.
Countries including India, France, Poland and Russia have warned their citizens against travel to the region, already on edge over the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month.
Germany on Friday called on its citizens to leave Iran.
Israel did not claim responsibility for the airstrike on April 1, but Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel “must be punished and shall be” for an operation he said was equivalent to an attack on Iranian soil.
Earlier, White House spokesperson John Kirby said the reportedly imminent attack by Iran on Israel was a real and viable threat, but gave no details about any possible timing.
Kirby said that the US was looking at its own force posture in the region in light of Tehran’s threat and was watching the situation very closely.
Meanwhile, dozens of Israeli settlers stormed into a Palestinian village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, shooting and setting houses and vehicles on fire.
The rampage resulted in the death of a Palestinian man and 25 others were wounded, Palestinian health officials said.
The killing came after an Israeli raid overnight killed two Palestinians, including a Hamas militant, in confrontation with Israeli forces.
An Israeli rights group said the settlers were searching for a missing 14-year-old boy from their settlement. After the rampage, Israeli troops said they were still searching for the teen.
The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said that settlers stormed into the village of al-Mughayyir late on Friday, searching for the Israeli boy.
Videos posted to X by the rights group showed dark clouds of smoke billowing from burning vehicles as gunshots rang out.
A photograph posted by the group showed what appeared to be a crowd of masked settlers.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said eight of the injured were hit by live fire.
The slain man was later identified by his family as 26-year-old Jehad Abu Alia.
His father, Afif Abu Alia, said he was shot and killed, but was unsure whether the fatal bullet was fired by an armed settler or an Israeli soldier.
“My son went with others to defend our land and honor, and this is what happened,” Abu Alia said from a hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where his son’s body had been transported.
The Israeli army said it was searching for the missing Israeli teen, and that forces had opened fire when stones were hurled at soldiers by Palestinians.
It said “hits were identified,” and soldiers also cleared out Israeli settlers from the village.
“As of this moment, the violent riots have been dispersed and there are no Israeli civilians present within the town,” it said.
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS